BURBANK - For newlyweds Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami, the last week has been the most exciting and important of their lives.

As victorious plaintiffs in the federal challenge against California's gay marriage ban Proposition 8, the couple of more than 12 years fulfilled their dream of legally marrying last week and witnessed many others do the same.

"It was just such an amazing week because our lives changed in such a profound way, as well as thousands of others," said Zarrillo, who was sitting next to Katami on their living room sofa Wednesday night as their two bulldogs, Gracie and Gordon, ran around excitedly.

"You've seen (same-sex) wedding after wedding on TV and in the newspaper; we saw a lot in person when we were in San Francisco this weekend. Just seeing how their lives are changing because of our lawsuit has been really profound and frankly, a little heavy to take in at times."

Zarrillo and Katami, along with a lesbian couple from Berkeley, had been involved with the American Foundation for Equal Rights' federal challenge of Proposition 8 for more than four years. But the couple's desire to marry preceded their involvement with the long and often challenging legal battle.

As soon as they were pronounced spouses for life on June 28 in a brief Los Angeles City Hall ceremony, Katami said he immediately felt a weight being lifted off him.

"I felt taller, I felt lighter. I felt like I could breathe a little easier and I couldn't wait to call him husband," he said. "We fought for so long to be able to use that language that defines who we are privately and also associates us publicly...It makes a huge difference."

It was also an honor, Zarrillo said, to marry on June 28, the anniversary of the Stonewall riots, in which gay patrons at a New York City bar reacted to police harassment in 1969. The events are credited with sparking the modern gay-rights movement.

"Now we share our anniversary with those brave men and women who just said enough is enough and fought back," Zarrillo said.

But Zarrillo and Katami are themselves being hailed as "heroes of the gay rights movement" who subjected themselves to public scrutiny and sacrificed a great deal of privacy over the last four years in their struggle for marriage equality, said Adam Umhoefer, executive director of the American Foundation for Equal Rights.

"They weren't just plaintiffs in the case; they were also some of the most eloquent spokespeople you could ask for," Umhoefer, who has been friends with the couple since 2005, said. "Their story is so compelling and convincing, it would be really hard to believe that someone would sit down to have dinner with them, hear their story and still be against the idea of them getting married."

Yet the couple's joy has also been tempered by the knowledge that gay marriage is still not allowed in many U.S. states. Zarrillo and Katami said they were particularly struck by the sorrow of a lesbian woman who had traveled from Arizona with her partner to San Francisco to celebrate the Supreme Court decision.

After she congratulated them and gave them a hug, she started weeping, explaining that she and her partner would be returning to a state where they could not legally wed.

"I'll never forget the look on her face when we let go of the hug and she was crying," Zarrillo said. "I started crying and it stuck with me ever since. I can't get that out of my head, nor should I."

While the two -- who are both keeping their original last names and refer to one another as JZ and PK -- look forward to resuming a normal life without the disruptions of court dates, hearings and media interviews, Katami said they also are happy to lend their support and experience to the cause in the future. They are natural spokespeople for the cause, he said, "because the voice we lent to our case was a voice that is heard across the country."

Katami's sister Maria McGuire of San Jose, who watched her brother get married on television, said she is impressed at how he has handled the stress of the case. Having their private life scrutinized and becoming public figures in the struggle for marriage equality was not initially what the couple had envisioned, she said.

"I think both he and Jeff went into this with very strong convictions and for the right reasons, a very sincere and genuine belief that they felt something was very wrong," she said. "Because of that, they've been able to stay very steadfast, and steady and determined and motivated and driven to see it to the end."

Zarrillo's parents Dominick and Linda Zarrillo of Toms River, New Jersey, said they were elated that their son was happily married.

"We feel like Paul is one of our sons," Linda Zarrillo said of her new son-in-law. "I've said it many times; if we had to pick someone for Jeff, it would be Paul. They complement each other."

Dominick Zarrillo agreed, adding that the two have their disputes like all couples do.

"It's like (any) married couple; now they can do it legally whereas before it was illegal," he said.

The newly married couple said they also learned something about one another in their Prop. 8 fight. Katami said he was struck by how resilient and motivational Zarrillo was even as he and their relationship was thrown in the spotlight.

"And being able to hold onto that without any ego, just being who he was, that resilient, and that ability to always see the forest for the trees, to be in the moment but understand the bigger picture was something very profound for me," Katami said.

For Jeff Zarrillo, the process taught them how much their relationship and their desire to marry really meant for them.

"Our relationship has actually deepened," he said. "Our love for each other has actually grown over the last four years. That's something to me as important as it was to get the ring."